The present invention is directed to a heat exchanger and mixing device wherein material directed through a conduit, such as, a viscous resin material, is kept in flowable state by a heat transfer medium directed through tubes that extend across the conduit.
It is to be noted that there are a number of heat transfer systems currently available, including those which use tubes extending across a conduit and through which a heat transfer medium is directed for maintaining the material flowing through a conduit within the requisite temperature range. However, these systems are deficient in that they do not provide for the requisite mixing and are not as efficient a heat transfer system as the instant invention. Patents directed to this sort of general configuration are as follows: Oakeley 33,849; Fox 551,489; Holland 609,935; Holt et al. 798,183; Harter 1,636,958; Wells 2,018,163; Behlau 4,235,286; Pranaitis 4,363,353; and Muller et al. 4,314,606. It is acknowledged that these prior art references do provide for heat transfer and in some cases even enhance the mixing of a viscous material. However, unsatisfactory heat exchange between the flowable material and the heat exchange medium is achieved and the desired mixing is not obtained thus requiring a more efficient system such as the type set forth in the present invention.